Assimilation and integration in the twenty-first century: where have we been and where are we going? Introduction to a special issue in honour of Richard Alba

Abstract

ABSTRACT This introduction sets the agenda for a Special Issue dedicated to the life and works of Richard Alba. It opens up a dialogue on the continuing value of assimilation and integration perspectives today for studying social change in an era of increasing ethno-racial diversity. First, the evolution of new assimilationism is discussed through an exposition of the intellectual biography of Richard Alba, its leading proponent. Second, we highlight key ideas that contributors bring to a dialogue over assimilation/integration in the US and Europe. Third, we explore themes that cross-cut contributions, including the need to better understand: the importance of ethno-racial self-identification in shaping both outcomes and actual social processes of integration; the role of ‘culture’ and the adaptation of majority populations to immigration; the interrelationships between integration and racism as social processes; how histories of immigration matter; questions about the transferability of assimilation/integration concepts across distinct historical, cultural, and spatial contexts; and how assimilation/integration scholarship can respond constructively to insights from critical perspectives. In short, we aim to tease out critical junctures and disagreements within assimilation/integration perspectives, in the belief that this can provide suggestions about where the future research agenda needs to go.